The overall hustle of Sularia itself was something that Lewis found a little overwhelming. Despite growing up in Hoja Mesto and its regular dealings, something about Sularia felt more crowded and exhausting. Perhaps it had something to do with the heat, or even the ever present sunlight beating down on all those who wandered the streets at day. The would be assassin had taken to the nightlife of Sularia, however, and made it a point to only wander the streets as the sun set, finding everything a bit easier to take.

Whilst wandering the streets, though, Lewis always felt drawn to the bazaar and subsequently the main fountain. Perhaps it was the promise of many a corrupt merchant he could steal from. While he knew there was a need for killing, he disliked it, and much preferred his real role as the stand-in leader of the Thieves Guild that he and Xeik had started in Hoja.

Xeik. He frowned as he sat down at the fountain, idly dragging his hands through the cool water, gazing wistfully at the silver that lay mere inches away. I wonder how he and Danwe are. He knew Xeik had not made his way to Sularia yet. There were no signs of it. The boy had made a promise to branch out the guild, but it seemed that Sularia had not been touched.

Not that there was much of a problem like back home. While there were beggars, a lot of them seemed to be more well off than Lewis had seen in other cities and towns. At least, at first glance. Perhaps it warranted more of an investigation. Something to add to the list. Perhaps Akira would show me around. Maybe the corruption is harder to spot here…

Sunset in Sularia was one of her Larka’s favorite times to visit the city to get what shopping she needed to do done. It was usually a bit cooler in the city and it wasn’t so bright as to be blinding to the eyes. She had been in town now for a few hours, Celeste was at home with the twins and Akira was, well, she was out somewhere in the lands doing her own thing. Larka always worried, as a mother would, about their children, no matter how old. But Akira wasn’t as old as she looked, thanks to an aging potion she had gotten into that had upped her age physically by a few years.

With a heavy bag in her one hand Larka made her way to the fountain in town with her wolf Kyu beside her. As Larka sat she groaned a bit and the wolf huffed laughter and gave a bark, Larka rolled her eyes. ”Quiet you. You had as much fun watching as I did actually fighting.” Larka chuckled, on her face she had a black and blue bruise formed around her left eye, her knuckles were bruised as well, she had obviously been in a fight. Reaching into the bag she got out a bottle, used her teeth to remove the cork, set the bottle down to take the cork and set it down before taking a long drink. Smiling as the rum burned its way down her throat Larka corked the bottle and put it away.

Kyu snorted and Larka shrugged at the wolf, leaning over to scratch her ears. ”I just wanna sit and relax for a bit, Kyu, we’ll get home to Celeste and the twins soon.” Larka smiled and leaned back a bit, not knowing who was sitting all that close to. She had seen him, yes, but hadn’t given him a second glance after that, just another soul in the city.

Celeste? Lewis perked up to the name. He had heard that name before from somewhere. He knew it had importance, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint it. He pondered it for a moment, and took it upon himself to look up at the one who had spoken it. She looked as though she had gone through a bit of a scrap, which Lewis was used to seeing.

Oh. His eyes lit up as his memory triggered, and he suddenly knew where he had heard it from. Neera. “Akira,” he said aloud, more out of habit than anything. When he and Akira had first met, Neera had been overprotective of the young fox demon, but after awhile, the pucca had given in to one of the more wild ideas they had in order to rescue a bunch of slaves.

The plan was something reckless, but Akira had insisted upon taking part of it, offering herself as bait. In the end, everything managed to work itself out, and the slaves were freed alongside Akira. It had all been for the best, although Lewis and Xeik had both been worried when she noted that she was related to Xunatar. They may have been orphans on the street, but they weren’t stupid. They knew very well that if anything had happened, the ex-god would have killed them and the entire guild without a second thought.

But Akira had also mentioned others. More than once. ‘Mommies’ specifically. Slowly, but surely, the pieces were coming together, and Lewis’ eyes started to widen. Oh….

“You’re…one of her mothers…”

When Larka heard Akira’s name being spoken by the young man beside her her head snapped over to look at him, grey eyes narrowing. He looked like trouble, not that he looked like a scumbag or anything, but the kind of trouble that an over protective parent would see in someone who is interested in their daughter. Larka said nothing as she waited to see what the else this young man might say, or do, and she had an inkling she already knew who this might be.

When he did speak Larka grinned in that way that parents have when talking to a ‘friend’ of their child’s that is both threatening and nice at the same time. ”I am, and I’m guessing you’re the one named Lewis she has spoken about?” Larka questioned, sliding a few close to him while remaining sitting, her bruised face showing a grin but her eyes were, well, intimidating. ”Am I correct in that assumption? Hm? Are you the one for whom my daughter drank an aging potion to try and be the same age as you?” Larka questioned with a stare that could kill, or at least make someone wish they were dead.

[OOC: If I’m missing details I apologize!]

Lewis may have been an untrained assassin, but he had grown up on the streets in a brutal environment that encouraged lying, stealing, and even for some killing to survive. And at a young age, Lewis and Xeik had both learned how to deal with intimidating presences. There was always a trick to resisting the pressure, and staying calm despite everything that was happening. It was a survival technique that had to be mastered, no matter what; otherwise it meant death or worse.

Lewis stared at Akria’s mother for a moment, trying to frantically recall any of these techniques. It wasn’t working. This was more intense than anything he had ever felt, and suddenly he felt as though he were in the most dangerous situation of his life.

“I, er..I uh…” He glanced around, trying to find something, anything to pull his focus back in. This was the worst situation he had ever found himself in. “I…it’s not as if I asked her to do it. It was a mishap on my side, but I never expected her to try and follow.” He looked to the side, trying to avoid her gaze. “You know how she gets. It’s not like anyone can talk her out of anything when her mind is set.”

Finally, he managed to meet her gaze. “Besides, it’s not like she can’t look after herself at times. And she has Neera…why didn’t Neera stop her?”

Larka continued to stare at Lewis while he stammered out words that didn’t actually make a sentence together. Finally he spoke again but avoided her gaze as he explained in short his side of things. He then managed to meet Larka’s eyes and Larka grinned at his words then. ”Neera is a guardian for Akira, I’m willing to bet that Neera didn’t understand what exactly Akira was doing with the potion.” Larka explained. ”Oh I’m aware that Akira can take care of herself, you think I didn’t? You think I’d let her wander around on her own like she does, even with Neera? Hardly, if I thought she wasn’t capable of handling herself I’d be right there with her wherever she travelled until I was sure she could handle situations on her own.” Larka replied.

Letting silence fill the gap for a moment Larka then continued. ”So, Lewis, tell me about yourself. Akira hasn’t told me a lot and I want to know what kind of young man my daughter has fallen for. And, just in case, my name is Larka, that is Kyu.” Larka nodded towards the big wolf sitting next to her.

Despite the way the conversation had started, and despite tripping over his own words, Lewis felt as though the conversation were going rather well. He only came to this conclusion after the realization that he was not dead. At least, in his mind. Larka was trained, and from what Lewis understood, was well known for her capabilities.

Feeling a bit more at ease with the questions, Lewis started to answer. This was, however, a tricky question. It was only recently that Lewis had learned a small part of who he was. He was not one to feel emotions lightly, and tended to think with a cold and calculating process. However, when it came to Akira…well… putting this into words was something that he thought for a moment longer than he would have liked.

“Well, my name is Lewis of the-” he paused. Calling out the name of his guild was probably not the wisest. “Dusk. Lewis…Dusk,” he said. “I would rather not go into the details, but I’m a part of a guild for…uh…helping kids.” He paused. “My leader is currently away though. There’s a rather powerful assassin’s guild after him. So in the meantime, I tend to run things, although I’m quite far away from where we’re stationed. I uh…”

This was where he was starting to run into quite a few different issues. Would Larka care that he was a self taught assassin of his own ideals? To kill in order to protect the rest of his own guild from having to kill? The look of concern over the truth was plain as day on his face. Bluffing was not something he had mastered.

Larka raised a brow when Lewis paused for a moment when he was introducing himself, what had been about to say there but then stopped? When he had finished speaking Larka thought for a moment with Kyu watching Lewis as well before she looked to Larka to. ”I see.” She eyed him carefully, she wasn’t blind to the concern on his face or the fact that he wasn’t telling the full truth to her either. ”See, I would like you to go into detail. You aren’t telling me the full truth, Lewis, and I don’t like that, more so when it comes to someone who is interested in my daughter. I’m a very protective mother, and not one that you’d like to see angry.” Larka being a Berserker didn’t help, let alone how tall and fit she was naturally.

Angry Larka was scary Larka. While she couldn’t take the hits like she could when she was a Reaver, the rage that bubbled inside of the tall human could boil over quickly when she needed it to. Now that she had a family again Larka could control her inner rage without needing to meditate. Able to contain any anger she might feel until she was in a fight and at that time release that pent up rage to add that much more to her strength. ”So, Lewis, tell me the truth if you please, I’d like to hear it. If, by chance, it’s something very private, we can find a private place to talk, either way, I’d like to know.”

Whether it was due to Lewis’ inexperience, or whether Larka was as astute as she claimed, the boy realized that he had no choice but to explain himself. He wondered if Xeik would be mad. Still, if Larka was in part responsible in raising Akira, it would not be the worst thing to divulge their trade. Even more so, from what Lewis understood, Larka might even understand that Lewis was learning things that broke away from the guild’s code. He took a hesitant breath, and then nodded to her.

“Okay. I understand. I’m sorry. It’s not…something I’m used to. It’s hard for us to trust adults…” He paused. “Xeik started a thieves guild in Hoja. Heaven’s Dawn. A lot has happened, and while I don’t mind going into details, it might take some time. The short version is, we pissed off a rather prominent black guild, and Xeik had to run to get the heat off of us. He left me in charge in the short term, and…well…” This was the hard part. Lewis had to admit that he went against Xeik and his beliefs. But how best to explain it?

“Xeik…has this way of thinking. I can’t…explain it well because I don’t entirely understand why he thinks this way. But he keeps telling me that he wants what’s best for everyone, and that he wants to do it in a way that doesn’t kill anyone.” Lewis crossed his arms. “There was this time, shortly after Xeik left, where I saw a slave trader take a group of children into his lair. I followed him, like we do, and I started to set the kids free like I usually do. This wasn’t the first time we had done this run, though, and the man was ready for us. So…”

Lewis uncrossed his arms and looked down to his hands. “I did what I had to. But the realization dawned on me. He was dead.” A start of a smile twitched at the corner of Lewis’ mouth. “There was no way he was going to change. Not even if the Goddess of Death and Debauchery herself came down.” The boy looked to Larka. “I stopped him. One life for the good of many.”

“So, I started tracking more of them down. Traders of life and death. That’s one of the reasons I came out here…” Of course, now he had mentioned his trade. Would Larka understand? Or was it too dangerous for Akira? Lewis was worried about what her reaction would be.